Delicately pretty, demure Hollywood lead of the 1940s. A former cover-girl and Broadway ingenue, Caulfield exhibited a modest charm in light comedy, most notably opposite William Holden in "Dear Ruth" (1947) and "Dear Wife" (1950). She conveyed refined femininity and bland sophistication in a dozen-plus mediocre features, mostly at Paramount, from her debut in "Miss Susie Slagle's" (1944, released 1946), to her costarring role opposite Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in the Irving Berlin musical "Blue Skies" (1946), to her later work in B westerns. By the 1950s, her upper middle-class blonde good looks and cultivated manner had been superseded by the more dramatic screen presence of Grace Kelly, her (more acclaimed) successor to the type.

Delicately pretty, demure Hollywood lead of the 1940s. A former cover-girl and Broadway ingenue, Caulfield exhibited a modest charm in light comedy, most notably opposite William Holden in "Dear Ruth" (1947) and "Dear Wife" (1950). She conveyed refined femininity and bland sophistication in a dozen-plus mediocre features, mostly at Paramount, from her debut in "Miss Susie Slagle's" (1944, released 1946), to her costarring role opposite Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in the Irving Berlin musical "Blue Skies" (1946), to her later work in B westerns. By the 1950s, her upper middle-class blonde good looks and cultivated manner had been superseded by the more dramatic screen presence of Grace Kelly, her (more acclaimed) successor to the type.

Became vice president, North Star Company of Nevada, an oil-interest combine in the late 1950s

1962:

Appeared in stock producion of "Cactus Flower"

1963:

Returned to film after an eight-year hiatus in "Cattle King"

1965:

Named vice president of Lustre Shine Company Inc.

:

Made two Western programmers for A.C. Lyles, "Red Tomahawk" (1967) and "Buckskin" (1968)

:

Featured in TV series, "The High Chaparral"

:

Appointed vice president, TV programming, Donnelly Telecommunications

1987:

Made guest appearance on TV series, "Murder She Wrote"

1991:

Last feature film, "Evil Spirits"

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Education

Miss Bean's School for Girls:
-

Lincoln School of Teachers College:
New York , New York -

Columbia University:
New York , New York - 1940

Notes

In his unauthorized biography of author J.D. Salinger, Ian Hamilton claims that the name for the hero of "The Catcher in the Rye," Holden Caulfield, was a combination of a childhood friend--Holden--with Joan Caulfield, on whom Salinger had a crush.

"I didn't go Hollywood on the outside with flashy cars, upstairs maids and mink covered bathroom fixtures. I went Hollywood on the inside--and that's worst of all. . . . I played a character only in one picture--my first. From then on I was this movie star named Joan Caulfield. I tried to avoid being natural. I lowered my voice. I copied the mannerisms of other stars. I struck poses. I received bad advice--from dramatic coaches, from agents and from studio executives. I stopped being a human being. I blame myself and I blame Hollywood's star system." --Joan Caulfield to writer Erskine Johnson ("The Paramount Pretties" by James Robert Parish, 1972)

Frank Ross. Producer. Married on April 29, 1950; divorced on April 5, 1960; was married to Jean Arthur when he met Caulfield; born c. 1904; produced and directed Caulfield in "The Lady Says No" (1952) and produced "The Rains of Ranchipur" (1955); also produced her TV series "My Favorite Husband" (1953-55) and "Sally" (1957-58).

husband:

Robert Peterson. Dentist. Married on November 24, 1960; divorced in 1969.